Climate change is making Italy's rainfall increasingly deadly, experts at a Naples conference on coping with global warming have warned.
Scientists presented figures which show that downpours cause a flood or a landslide every 36 hours in Italy.
They forecast that these will become increasingly common as global warming makes the weather more extreme.
"Italy risks having many more Sarno disasters," said climate expert Vincenzo Ferrara, referring to the 1998 mudslide that buried the town of Sarno to the south of Naples, killing 140 people.
"Exceptional downpours are to blame".
Experts at the conference expect overall rainfall levels in Italy to fall 20% in the next few decades, but say the intensity of the downfalls will be three or four times higher.
"In Italy there are days when the amount of rainfall is the same as the quantity that would usually come down in two or three months," added Ferrara.
"And our country is heading towards a situation where we could have the whole year's rainfall in just four or five days".
In the last 50 years 2,500 people have been killed in landslides in Italy, and 1,000 more have lost their lives in floods, according to data presented in Naples.
"We must make the nation safe from the phenomena of water explosives, i.e. enormous quantities of water falling in a very short time in a small area," said Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, the leader of Italy's Green Party.
"We must also set up systems to forecast these downpours and alert people in advance".
Research carried out by the Civil Protection Department showed that 70% of Italian towns are in flood-risk or landslide-risk areas, with Campania, Liguria, Calabria and Piedmont the most vulnerable regions.
They estimated that it would cost around 42 million euros to make these areas safe with flood barriers and landslide-prevention measures.
The Naples meeting is part of the preparations for a major national conference on climate change that will take place in Rome September 12-13.
Ferrara is the scientific coordinator of the Rome conference.
